Initial published notice of my
presence:
"We restored a two-story house,
bought an old Cadillac and put it back together in our spare time and
also owned a trucking company," he said.
Unfortunately, the life
partnership ended when the relationship was destroyed by a
court
[Note - I have removed a
two line segment of this article from its location at this point, in the
interest of accuracy. Any other braced item within this transcript is my
edit, also done to improve the accuracy of Ms. Ellis' report.]
Rothbard said it was then
that he decided to stop working.
"I retired when the court
interjected itself into my life [wrongfully,] destroying a very wonderful
relationship," he said.
Rothbard said he knew he
couldn't return to New Orleans because the memories of Lourdes would
cause him too much pain.
He then departed for Miami.
However, he decided to stop in New Orleans for Mardi Gras on the
way.
Rothbard recounted a time
during a parade when a doubloon landed on his folded arms.
"I couldn't even pick it
up," he said.
"I had once felt like I
owned this city, but [ ] then I knew I had to
leave."
Rothbard said after that
incident he spent some time in Miami recovering from the
break-up.
"I was being a student of
life, trying to let time heal things before coming back to New Orleans,"
he said.
Three years later, Rothbard
found the strength to return to the Big Easy. He said that his
desire to return was ignited by the attitude of people in the
city.
"I just knew when to come
back. There's open-mindedness and diversity here."
Rothbard has been back in
New Orleans for a year and three months.
He said he returned to the
Tulane campus not only to talk with students but also to memorize poetry
at the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library.
"I particularly like Edgar
Allen Poe. I have now memorized most of his poems," he
said.
When Rothbard does engage
in conversation with students, he said that he prefers not to discuss
campus issues. Instead, he said he would rather
talk about problems with the legal system in our society and about current events of the world.
"I like to talk about what
the real world is like beyond the synthetic bubble of academia," Rothbard
stated.
In addition, Rothbard said
that he wanted to present himself as an interesting stimulus to
students.
"I want to attract people
with active curiosities."